Mission Trips

This past week was our Spring Break. Our church, FBC Springfield, went on a mission trip to New Orleans, LA. I've been on several mission trips when I was younger, but it was with my family and I was too young to really work. The first real mission trip for me was to Helen, GA this past summer with the church. I really enjoyed Helen, but it was very different than the type of mission trip we had in New Orleans. In Helen, we did more to reach out to the community. Everyday we got up and were split in to groups; each van went to a different location. We went to campgrounds, parks, and trailer parks. During the day our groups did day camps at these locations for local children to come to. At the camps we did a Bible lesson, an art activity, a song, and a game that all went along with the lesson. It was a good way to interact with the kids in the area. In the afternoons and nights we did different things. Some nights we went to the Georgia State Fair and performed dramas, and had our band play. Other days we walked the river and picked up trash, then we washed windows in downtown Helen for different businesses. We also performed dramas in downtown, and had our band play in a local park. All these things were to reach out to the people in the community. To me, it was an awesome experiencing of witnessing. It really opened up doors and opportunites to witness to complete strangers. During the day we got to talk to different kids that came to the camps, at the state fair people watched our dramas and listened to the band; some asked questions about our church and our trip to Helen. Performing dramas in downtown Helen really opened my eyes to all the chances we get to witness. Complete strangers walked up to me and asked questions about the dramas or God. Me and a friend walked up to strangers inviting them over to watch the dramas and hear the band. The whole trip was an experience I'll never forget. Since I learned so much on that trip and enjoyed it that much, I decided to go to on the New Orleans mission trip. Our goal was to help rebuild a church in Chalmette, LA that was hit by Hurricane Katrina almost 5 years ago. The church had been completely destroyed and lost most of its members after the hurricane. They started rebuilding, and the project was coming along slowly. So our youth group volunteered to go help them for a week. We did a lot of different things. We put in a lot of ceiling tiles, suffering through the dust in our eyes and noses. Others laid concrete, cleaned, and did other odd jobs. We worked hard during the days. Wednesday night we had a service with their youth group, and another group that had come to help us build. We performed two of our dramas, one was Armageddon, which I was in. The other was Song for the Broken. Friday night we had a concert that Faraday played at. I thought the whole week was very successful. God deffinitely tested my patience on many occasions, and there was moments when I had to take a breather and just pray. He's also shown me not only on the trip, but other times too, that prayer really does work. I pray about the smallest things sometimes, whether its needing to calm my nerves, bite my tongue, the need for patience, safety, or just about anything. And God is always right there listening to my prayers. I learned a lot from this trip, and I really enjoyed it. I really love mission trips, and I've recently thought of the idea of going out of the country next summer on a mission trip. So I'm praying about that and the other opportunites I have coming up this summer. 

First Blog

I decided to create a blog so that I could document and share the things going on in my life. Most of the things I write about will have to do with my walk with Christ, my family life, friend life,  the things I personally struggle, and things that just make my day. Some of them will be serious or funny, others almost a waste to write about. Enjoy! :)